SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, September 28, 2026, and deployed 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites despite a Raptor engine shutting down early during the flight. The engine issue prompted SpaceX to shorten the planned 10-hour mission to about three hours, but it did not prevent the spacecraft from reaching orbit or deploying its payload.
The uncrewed Starship-Super Heavy system launched from Starbase, Texas, on its 14th test flight. Unlike the previous 13 Starship flights, which remained on suborbital trajectories, Flight 14 proceeded with an orbit-insertion burn that placed the spacecraft into low Earth orbit.
Engine Issue Did Not Stop Orbital Insertion
One of Starship’s Raptor engines shut down prematurely during ascent, creating uncertainty over whether the spacecraft would proceed to orbit. After reviewing telemetry, SpaceX engineers determined the vehicle was healthy enough to continue and cleared a separate Raptor restart for the orbit-insertion burn. Starship then reached orbit and deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
The original flight plan called for nearly 10 hours in space and about six orbits around Earth before a planned splashdown near Chile. After the engine issue and the successful satellite deployment, mission controllers brought Starship home early. The spacecraft reentered the atmosphere and completed a controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii roughly three hours after launch.
The deployment was particularly significant for Starlink because the 26 spacecraft were operational third-generation Starlink V3 satellites rather than test payloads. SpaceX says the V3 design can provide substantially more network capacity than its previous generation, making Starship an important part of the company’s plan to expand its satellite broadband network.
The shortened mission also showed that Starship still faces reliability challenges as SpaceX works toward routine orbital launches. Although the engine issue prevented the spacecraft from completing its full planned mission profile, Flight 14 achieved its two biggest objectives: reaching orbit and deploying an operational payload. Starship’s progress is also important beyond Starlink because SpaceX is developing a version of the vehicle for NASA’s Artemis lunar program. The flight also comes as SpaceX’s lunar development plans put increasing emphasis on testing Starship systems in Earth and lunar orbit.
